PNOC-EC income up 18% in 9 months

MANILA, Philippines - PNOC-Exploration Corp., the oil and gas exploration arm of state-owned Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC), reported a net income of P1.7 billion for the first nine months of 2010, up 18 percent from the year-ago level of P1.446 billion.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, PNOC-EC attributed the earnings improvement to the increase in revenues from its Malampaya natural gas project. Improved earnings from its coal and commercial port operations also boosted the company’s income for the period.

“Income was boosted by the increase in average gas and condensate prices, increase in volume of coal sold and bunkering services this year,” the company said.

PNOC-EC currently operates the Energy Supply Base, a private commercial port that offers berthing, cargo handling, storage and warehousing needs of energy firms. The share of these units represented 24.3 percent of total revenues.

For the nine-month period, PNOC-EC’s revenues went up 41.5 percent to P7 billion from P4.97 billion a year earlier. The rise in revenues was triggered by the improvement in sales from the company’s three major business units.

During the period under review, revenues from oil and gas production reached P3.563 billion, coal operations at P3.2 billion, Energy Supply Base at P239 million, and P26 million from a drilling rig operation.

The firm said it sold coal to China amounting to P1.43 billion during the period.

PNOC-EC’s administrative expenses, meanwhile, increased to P304 million from P269.35 million arising from higher employee costs, professional and technical services incurred for the mining operations in Malangas, Zamboanga Sibugay, as well as costs incurred for the seismic expenses of various oil and gas projects.

Total assets stood at P15.15 billion as of end-September while total liabilities went up to P3.88 billion, which includes the company’s share in the drilling costs for the Malampaya Camago 2 appraisal and development well.

The company incurred a short-term loan of $9 million with the Land Bank of the Philippines to finance its share in the drilling.

PNOC-EC’s shares of stock are 99.78 percent owned by the Philippine government through PNOC, with the remaining 0.22 percent held by public shareholders.

In its early years, PNOC-EC served mainly as a catalyst in petroleum exploration, focusing its activities in frontier onshore areas in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and Samar.

In 1994, the company’s three-megawatt San Antonio gas power plant in Echague, Isabela was commissioned, providing electricity to more than 10,000 households.